Cafe
by Kezzone
Summary: An old cafe is selling for cheap and who better to buy it then the kids who would, in an alternate universe, be known as the human representatives of Hope and Despair? Cafe AU. Spoilers for DR0/DR1/SDR2.


_When Hope-kun met Despair-chan_

Two young adults stand in front of a cafe. It's an old cafe, with the french word _l'amor_ written in faded cursive over the door. The windows are boarded, with only a faint light escaping between them. There is a grey rolls-royce parked right in front of the door, and it obviously belongs to neither of them.

"They found someone willing to pay five thousand? I guess... someone else really wants this cafe, huh. Well, if they want it and so much and get it then it's a good thing right? I... wanted it too, but I'm sure this is just a sign that there is something even better waiting for me in the future! Maybe tomorrow I'll find a cafe for half the price that's also half as beat up. No, even better, someone'll see me and decide to give it to me for free. Heh, I guess that's a bit unrealistic though.. Still, I'm excited! There's so much in store for me. -!"

"Five thousand... What brilliant person put all of my hard work to waste? I'm so disappointed... I wanted this cafe so much.. What an amazing feeling! Despair! I'm in a brilliant, desperate, unmoving, overshadowing despair! This was definitely the best deal in town, no, this was surely the only cafe for sale! I'll need to make a cafe from scratch then! It'll probably take years and years of hard work and no pay. Then I'll run out of funds and it'll stand half completed forever, and I'll live on the streets and slowly starve to death. -!"

"-What a hope-inspiring future!"

"-What a despair-inducing future!"

They turn to face each other, standing on either side of the large wooden door.

At that moment a passively positive boy met an aggressively negative girl. A meeting that never should have happened.

Their eyes met, and they stood there, not knowing yet the significance of this encounter..

They observed each other cautiously, knowing that they were probably rivals in the cafe-running business.

A girl with long red hair, and sunglasses so large they made her eyes look like bugs. She had heavy red lipstick on that would have made anyone else look ridiculous, and perfectly fitting plain looking clothes that gave one the impression she had spent hours picking them out.

-She's pretty, I guess. Really pretty. She looks vaguely familiar though, like I've seen her somewhere before...? Not that I've met her, but in a movie or something? No, that's silly. Um, I shouldn't stare at her too long, or she'll get the wrong impression.

A short boy with brown hair and grey eyes. He was rather normal looking, but there was a look in his eyes that told of immense inner strength. He was dressed in a unique looking hoodie that gave one the impression that he had spent absolutely no time at all picking it out.

-Ahoge spotted! Hah, I always think they raise a guy's attractiveness level by at least 120 percent! Or maybe that's because it's like Matsuda-kun. What came first, the Matsuda-kun or the ahoge fetish? Ughhh, this is filling me with a despairingly fluttery feeling ...Matsuda-kun really needs to die. Oh, the very thought makes me feel despair-ridden! A Shakespearean love tragedy!

The boy held out his hand to her. "Um, nice to meet you. I'm Makoto Naegi."

The girl took his hand. Instead of shaking it like he intended, she just held on and squeezed while he grew progressively more uncomfortable. "...Ryouko Otonashi." She lied, because she didn't want to be recognized here. She was going incognito, damn it! But how despairful would it be if he recognized her even under her brilliant disguise? Oh, now she suddenly was despairing over the fact that he probably wouldn't.

"So," Naegi said, feeling awkward. "Are you also here to put in an offer?"

"Of course! Don't you think such a despairingly gross place is perfect for me?"

"It can always be fixed up," he said, worried that he had somehow offended her. There was a girl at his old job who would always say stuff like that, then get mad however he tried to respond.

"It could be, but I don't even have the money to buy it! Imagine how many wonderful opportunities I just lost :)"

"Actually, I don't have the money either. But I'm sure if I work hard I can get enough together before it's sold." He said this with determination.

"How much do you have?" Otonashi asked, building up.

"Only about three thousand," he admitted. "But that can change." She noticed that they had the exact same amount.

"So you think you can make over two thousand in just a few weeks? I bet you'll work very hard all hours of the day just to come up a bit short and that hope of yours will turn into an insurmountable despair!" She said giddily.

"Despair?" He tilted his head. "Why? If I couldn't buy the cafe then I'd still be left with a large amount of money. Besides, I'm sure this isn't the only cafe for sale in town. I'll find another one, maybe one that's even cheaper, and then I'll have extra spending money too."

She stared at him. His hope was strong enough to make her despair. "There won't be one though, and if there was, if it was cheaper then this shed, then imagine how trashed it would be."

"I can always fix it." He said without wavering. The times he was being sickeningly hopeful seemed to be the only times he wasn't stuttering and stammering awkwardly.

"You really are the real deal." She laughed. "Your pathetic hope is adorable." She squeezed his hand even harder when she said this, and he blushed like he'd never been complemented before. Maybe he hadn't? How despair-causing! Maybe she could seduce him then break his heart. What if she ended up falling for him too? Then she'd be in despair as well! They could be in despair together. The perfect romance!

Oh, but then she'd be cheating on Matsuda-kun. That was the one thing even she couldn't bring herself to go against yet. Just wait! One day she'd shove him off a cliff and feel the greatest despair of her life!

It was then that the person who had been meeting with the owner of the cafe walked out. A middle aged and refined man, dressed in a black suit. He was accompanied by two large burly men who could only be bodyguards. Otonashi audibly gasped.

"Him? There's no way either of us can buy the shop now." She said so gleefully. "What a despair inducing revelation."

Naegi turned towards her. "Who is he? Well, no-one is completely powerful. I'm sure there's a bright side to this. Let's go talk to the store owner."

He walked inside the old store, dragging her behind him. They seemed to have forgotten that they were holding hands like newlyweds.

Jin Kirigiri was having a bad day. The small store that he used to live in and run with his wife and daughter was going to be bought out by an infamous corporate and made into a chain restaurant.

The truth was, he didn't want to sell the place at all. It was just, he had gotten a job offer at a world renowned college overseas. Apparently there was some sort of top secret experiment that they wanted his help on. It wasn't the type of offer he could turn down.

The corporate was the only people who gave an offer with enough money to pay all of his fees, so he had regretfully agreed to consider selling it to them. Tomorrow was the deadline of their offer, and then he'd need to say goodbye to this important (to him) cafe forever.

Jin's despair turned to hope when two young adults ran into the room, holding hands.

Both, with their free hand, slammed down an envelope on the counter. He opened them as he two breathed heavily. They really hadn't needed to run, he thought.

Two payments for three thousand. A whole thousand more then what the corporate was offering him. He smiled, relieved.

A young couple was far better than a monstrous and cutthroat corporate.

"Sold."

"Huh?"

"Wait..."

"The two of you can have this cafe. I hope you'll take good care of it."

Naegi and Otonashi looked at each other, realization dawning on their faces. They quickly detached their hands.

"Th-that's it?" Naegi asked.

Jin nodded. "Here, you two can look around the place while I get the papers sorted out."

"So quickly?" Naegi asked again. Otonashi hadn't said anything so far.

"I'm on a short schedule," Jin said.

Naegi nodded, and Otonashi dragged him out of the room to explore their newly bought cafe.

"What a despairful situation!" She said, once they were far enough away from the office that Jin wouldn't be able to hear them. "I had wanted this cafe for myself, but then I decided it would be more despairful if I couldn't get it, and now I can get it but I need to share it with you, so that must be the most despair causing of all, because it both robs me of my precious despair and causes it."

"I think it'd be best if we take the offer anyway, I mean, if it's alright with you." Naegi said. "I really want this cafe, and I bet if I was alone I'd have trouble at times, so it might be better to have two owners so we can back each other up, have two contrasting opinions, an extra pair of hands, and have an even better cafe."

"I don't want to share it, so I will." Naegi didn't really understand Otonashi, but he had a lot of experience dealing with eccentrics so he didn't question it much.

"What should we name it?" He asked her. "If it's going to be ours now." Actually, he knew exactly what he wanted to name it, but it'd be rude to not listen to her input first.

"That's easy! Junko's Cafe of Despair!" Otonashi said, letting her real name slip, but he didn't question it until much later.

"Is that so... Um, maybe, if it's alright with you, we could give it a less... despair-implying name. Like maybe Hope Coffeeshop?"

It was their first disagreement in their time as co-owners of the unnamed cafe. They had only been co-owners for less than five minutes. This was not a good sign of things to come.

Jin walked out of the cafe that day to see a new sign taped to the front door. He smiled warmly when he saw it. "I think I left it in good hands," he said to himself, chuckling.

HOPE&DESPAIR CAFE: COMING SOON


End file.
